Consequences
by DARWIN51
Summary: Back In The Game fic temporarily under misc until they add category. Very ooc sorry thats just how I run. bad things happen when you're drunk... Chapter 2 soon


Back In The Game: Consequences

Terry Gannon stumbled up the steps of her dad's house, fumbling for her key. After a rough day of being turned down from _another_ job, Gigi's offer to go out for some drinks sounded like a good idea at the time. Things went downhill as they got talking about their ideas on what to do with the team. Eventually it ended in a fight. She took a taxi home, and that's how she ended up wasted, stumbling down the front hall of her father's house.

"Terry!" The Cannon called "Where the hell've you been? You have responsibilities here y'know."  
"Can't you take care of things yourself?" She slurred.  
"I had to put the kid to bed! I don't know how to take care of a kid!" He opened another beer can; empty ones littered the floor.

"Like hell you don't." She snorted, heading off toward the kitchen to get a glass of water for her pounding headache. She felt him grab her arm, tightly. She turned back to him and saw the drunkenness in his eyes.

"Bring me another beer." He demanded. She had been through this too many times before as a child.  
"You have one." She told him.  
"Bring me another." He growled.  
"No! I'm tired of being your maid! It may have worked when I was little but not anymore, I'm an adult and you can't push me around. If you want it so damn bad, get it yourself!"

In a split second he threw the full beer can at the wall right next to Terry, smashing a picture. "Whose house are you in?!" He screamed. She wiped the beer off her face with her sleeve, and during that time, he got up, grabbed her by the shoulders and shoved her away from the wall. She stumbled until the back of her knees hit the coffee table. She instinctively put her hands up to shield her face. "Look at you, you're a failure!" He slurred "No job, divorced, a loser kid; you're going nowhere! What would your mother think?"

"Don't you dare bring mom into this!" She put her hands down.  
"I'm _glad_ your mother isn't here to see you today, it would break her heart. You're pathetic." He spat.  
"Mom would love me no matter what, because she wasn't so harsh and judgmental all the time. She knew how to raise a child."

"You think I _wanted _to raise you alone? You think I _asked_ for that responsibility? Trust me, I considered giving you up, but I didn't' want to see you end up in foster care. I wanted to see you succeed! That's why I got you started in baseball!"

"You _forced_ me to play baseball and you abused me when I didn't win. You really think that's the way to make a child succeed?"

"You should be damn grateful I didn't put you out on the streets. I know what the foster system is like, and I protected you from it!"

She would have been terrified of him like this if she were a small child, or sober for that matter, but now she was so drunk she didn't care what he would do to her. She didn't remember what he was capable of. "I probably would have been better off in foster care." She muttered, turning back towards the kitchen, where she saw Danny peeking from behind the corner of the hallway.

Suddenly she felt her father's grip on her shoulder. He spun her around and slapped her clear across the face. She jerked her shoulder away from his grasp and tried to run down the hall, because she knew this was only the beginning of his beatings. The little girl inside of her telling her to run was finally heard. As she stumbled out the back door, only one thought crossed her mind: keep Danny away from her father's violence.

The Cannon quickly followed out the back door, grabbing the baseball bat leaning next to the door on his way. She ran to the far corner of the yard but before she could reach it, he swung at the back of her knees, knocking her over. She attempted to get up, still facing away from him, but he brought the bat down hard on her back. She collapsed on her side and through the darkness, saw Danny running to the back door. _No, Danny, please, just go back to bed, or better yet, get help _She thought, but he didn't do either. Instead he ducked into the shadows around the door.

The Cannon, like Terry, was drunk out of his mind, using the baseball bat for support as he kicked her repeatedly in the stomach and chest. She rolled away from him and threw up, then, going against everything her body was telling her, tried to stand up again. She made it to her hands and feet before he smashed the baseball bat against her left kneecap as hard as he could. She cried out in pain and fell back to the ground, holding her leg close to her chest. She was practically choking on pain. It was then that she realized how screwed she was. He began beating her back repeatedly, mostly hitting her shoulder. She begged for him to stop and partially felt ashamed that her son was watching this.

Finally, spent of energy, The Cannon gave her one last blow to the head before throwing down the blood-splattered bat and stumbling back toward the house.

"Mom!" Danny shouted as soon as The Cannon was out of earshot, and ran to Terry, who was laying on her side, eyes closed, blood dripping from somewhere under her hair that ran down one side of her face, pooling in the corner of her eye, then running back down her cheek. It was dark, the only light was coming from the house. Danny knelt down behind her and began shaking her shoulder. "Mom! C'mon, please!" His heart skipped as he pulled his hand away from her shoulder, covered in blood. The sound of distant sirens faded into earshot. He stayed near his mother partially out of pure terror, and partially because he felt he needed to protect her in case The Cannon came back out.

5 minutes later, two paramedics and a police officer walked into the backyard, shining a flashlight around until the light landed on Terry and Danny. They picked up speed when they saw the two of them, and soon the officer was asking Danny to step away.

Even though he was still frozen in fear, Danny felt himself standing up and backing away. He watched as the medics rolled her over onto her back. The officer took Danny by his shoulders and asked him what happened, but all Danny heard was the medics in the background: "She's got a strong pulse" "Labored breathing" "Severe head trauma and bleeding" "Careful with her head!" "Possible brain damage" Danny opened his mouth to talk to the officer, but instead, tears began to fall and he started to cry. The officer knelt down an pulled Danny into his arms "They're gonna take good care of her, okay?" He comforted. Danny could only watch in shock as his mother was carried away from the darkness.


End file.
